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From: Scott J Loftesness
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Subject: Apple Petition (Text)
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[Note: the following transcription of Apple's Data-PCS Petition for
Rulemaking is provided courtesy of Telecom, CompuServe's
Telecommunications Issues Forum (GO TELECOM), and HamNet, CompuServe's
Amateur Radio/Scanning/SWL Monitoring Forum (GO HAMNET). HamNet's Packet
Radio section provides a wealth of resources on amateur packet radio
technology, specifications, software, etc.]
[Note: This petition has been assigned RM-7618 by the Federal
Communications Commission. Comments should be sent to the Secretary, FCC,
Washington, DC 20554 by March 7, 1991. Clearly indicate RM-7618 on your
letter.]
Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20554
In the Matter of
Amendment of Section 2.106 of the Commission's Rules to Establish A New
Radio Service for Local Area High Speed Data Communications Among Personal
Computing Devices
PETITION FOR RULEMAKING
"DATA-PCS"
David S. Nagel
Vice President
Advanced Technology Group
Apple Computer, Inc.
20525 Mariani Avenue, M.X. 75-6J
Cupertino, California 95014
(408) 974-5124
OF COUNSEL
Henry Goldberg
GOLDBERG & SPECTOR
1229 Nineteenth Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 429-4900
January 28, 1991
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY
Apple Computer, Inc. ("Apple") proposes that the FCC initiate a rulemaking
to allocate 40 MHz in the 1850-1990 MHz band to a new radio service to be
used for high-speed, local area data communications service ("Data-PCS")
between and among personal computers. FCC action is urgently needed
because the computer industry is rapidly developing technologies to meet
the requirements of computer users, that will be severely handicapped
without Data-PCS.
The development of computer technology over the past two decades has been
characterized by two primary features:
1) computers have been networked, using cabling and common carrier
facilities, to give users access to information from a variety of sources;
and
2) there has been a steady movement towards placing the power of the
computer directly into the hands of the user, wherever the user may be.
As personal computer technology now moves from the desk-top to the
briefcase, the networking and portability features will become mutually
inconsistent unless the networking capability becomes as personal and
portable as the computer itself. With such a networking capability, a
person could communicate with his or her peers and could access files,
peripherals, and the gateways of wired and wireless data networks, all
within a "local area" of 50 meters. The development of Data-PCS,
therefore, will facilitate spontaneous, collaborative computing in the
work-place and in educational settings, thereby increasing the productivity
and efficiency of people in these environments.
There are, however, presently no technologies and no radio services that
can be used to create the shared electronic space necessary for
collaborative computing, principally because no existing technology or
service can assure consistent, high- quality, high-capacity data
communications in a spectrum-efficient manner.
Apple, therefore, is proposing the creation of a new radio service to be
devoted primarily and exclusively to local area, high speed data
communications to support collaborative computing and spontaneous
networking. As conceived by Apple, a Data-PCS radio service would:
- be accessible to users of personal computers without imposition of
licensing obligations, network connection fees, or air-time charges;
- be open to any computer manufacturer's products and any network access
and usage scheme that complies with regulatory requirements;
- be regulated in a manner that assures non-discriminatory access to
assigned frequencies by compatible devices for like purposes; and
- have flexibility built into the initial regulatory scheme to encourage
innovation in and the evolution of Data-PCS technologies and services.
In particular, Apple urges the Commission to allocate 40 MHz between 1850
and 1990 MHz for Data-PCS, preferably 1850-1890 MHz, because these
frequencies have optimum propagation characteristics for local area,
in-building use. Such an allocation will allow several networks with data
rates of, for example, 10 Mbps, to coexist in the same location.
The Commission should model the basic regulatory structure for Data-PCS on
Part 15 of the Rules, relying on manufacturers and the equipment
authorization process rather than on individual licensing, to assure
compliance with regulatory requirements. These regulatory requirements
would:
- confine Data-PCS transmissions to a maximum power limit of one watt of
output power;
- permit the use of antenna directionality, to take full advantage of reuse
of frequencies;
- require all users to transmit data in packetized form, with a required
minimum period of "listening" for traffic before transmitting and a maximum
permitted duration of continuous channel occupancy;
- require manufacturers to disclose the channel usage and access schemes
employed by all Data-PCS equipment, with the exception of encryption
schemes, and not authorize systems using schemes intended to exclude fair
access to the frequencies by others;
- require manufacturers to assign each transmitter a universal ID to be
transmitted in each transmission sequences; and
- along with all PCS equipment and similar devices, protect the health and
safety of users by including such devices under the general guidelines of
GEN Docket No. 79-144.
Finally, Apple requests that the FCC expedite consideration of this
proposal and not defer action awaiting resolution of many complex questions
associated with establishment of a regulatory framework for voice PCS.
There is an immediate and critical need for Data-PCS, which cannot be met
using any other frequencies or radio services. Unlike voice PCS, Data-PCS
is not simply a more efficient, or less expensive, means of providing an
existing service. The Data-PCS capability does not exist at present. It
will require substantial investments to create Data- PCS, let alone to
develop it to its full potential. Those investments cannot be made until
the FCC allocates sufficient bandwidth and establishes the operating
conditions that will enable Data-PCS to flourish.
The urgent need for Data-PCS is underscored by international considerations
facing the U.S. computer industry. At present the U.S. industry leads the
world in personal computer technology, but it is being strongly challenged
by Japanese companies. The U.S. industry, if it is to remain competitive,
must be in the forefront of developing a wireless capability for personal
computers. It can do so if the FCC creates an environment for Data-PCS
now, in advance of WARC-92. Initiative by the FCC will encourage the
spread of Data-PCS with a de facto U.S. standard and thus will
substantially enhance the competitive posture of U.S. computer
manufacturers in the world market.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUMMARY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PETITION FOR RULEMAKING
I. INTRODUCTION
II. DEVELOPMENTS IN PERSONAL COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, REQUIREMENTS FOR
COLLABORATIVE COMPUTING, AND NATIONAL INTEREST GOALS CREATE AN IMMEDIATE
AND URGENT NEED FOR DATA-PCS
A. Personal Computer Technology is Moving in the Direction of Smaller,
More Powerful Computers
B. Increased Productivity and Efficiency in the Work Place and the
Classroom Require a Capability for Spontaneous, Collaborative Computing
C. The United States' National Interest Will Be Served by Development of
Data- PCS
III. NO EXISTING TECHNOLOGY OR RADIO SERVICE, AND NO PROPOSED PERSONAL
COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE MEETS PRESENT AND ANTICIPATED NEEDS FOR DATA-PCS
A. ISM Bands Do Not Provide a Suitable Environment for Data-PCS
B. Data-PCS Cannot Be Provided as Part of Proposed Voice PCS and Cannot
Share Frequencies with Voice PCS
IV. THE FCC SHOULD CREATE A NEW DATA-PCS RADIO SERVICE WITH 40 MHZ OF
BANDWIDTH
A. The FCC Should Allocate 1850-1890 MHz for the Exclusive Use of
Data-PCS
1. Frequencies at 1850-1990 MHz offer optimum propagation for Data-PCS
2. Forty MHz is the minimum amount of bandwidth that should be
allocated at present
B. The Regulatory Framework for Data-PCS Should Be Modeled on Part 15 and
Should Assure Spectrum Efficiency, Compatibility of Usage, and Non-
Discriminatory Access to Assigned Frequencies
1. Spectrum Efficiency is Best Assured by Adoption of Reasonable
Restrictions on the Output Power of Data-PCS Transmitters
2. Compatibility of Users and Nondiscriminatory Access to Frequencies
Are Best Assured by Requiring that All Users Transmit Data in Packetized
Form
a. Disclosure by Manufacturers
b. Requirements for a universal identification
c. Non-disclosure of encryption schemes
C. The Commission Should Adopt Health and Safety Standards for all PCS
Equipment
V. CONCLUSION AND REQUEST FOR EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PETITION FOR RULEMAKING
Apple Computer, Inc. ("Apple"), pursuant to Section 1.401(a) of the Federal
Communications Commission's ("FCC" or "Commission") Rules and Regulations,
47 C.F.R. Section 1.401(a) 1988, respectfully requests that the FCC
initiate a rulemaking to allocate 40 MHz in the 1850-1990 MHz band to a new
radio service to be used for high-speed, local area data communications
services ("Data-PCS") between and among personal computers produced by any
manufacturer. Such a radio service will encourage individual productivity
and the "autonomous creation of knowledge" /1/ by facilitating ad hoc local
networking of individuals among their peers and with their file servers and
other peripheral resources, without requiring pre-configured wired
networks. The present lack of suitable frequencies for wireless, local
area networking transmissions is retarding the full development of personal
computer technology and could have a severe adverse effect on the future
position of the United States in the worldwide services-based economy.
Apple is asking the FCC to begin the process for creating the local area,
wireless dimension of a national information infrastructure that will carry
information to people any time and any place. The first, and most
important, link in the information infrastructure is the "local area"
(i.e., 50 meters) in which a person must communicate with his or her peers,
files, and peripherals. To qualify as an effective infrastructure, "a
resource must be widely available, easy to use, and inexpensive."/2/ This
local area wireless infrastructure does not exist at present, and it cannot
be created unless and until the FCC dedicates sufficient radio spectrum for
this purpose.
FCC action is urgently needed because computer users are requiring
capabilities, and the computer industry is rapidly developing technologies
to meet the needs of computer users, that will be severely handicapped
without Data-PCS. Moreover, the United States must act quickly in
dedicating frequencies for Data-PCS in order to establish a presence in
advance of WARC-92 and to set a de facto worldwide standard for what is
becoming the most rapidly growing segment of the personal computing
marketplace. Finally, as set forth below, Data-PCS will serve the national
interest by fostering the productivity of the United States' economy and
enhancing its international leadership in personal computer technologies.
I. INTRODUCTION
Apple Computer, Inc., develops and manufactures personal computers. Since
its incorporation in 1977, Apple has grown to a publicly-held, Fortune 100
company with more than twelve thousand employees. Sales in fiscal 1990
exceeded $5.5 billion, with sales outside of the United States accounting
for approximately 42 percent of Apple's revenues in 1990./3/
Apple's corporate philosophy is based on its conviction that personal
computers can dramatically improve the way people work and learn, giving
them new tools for doing both. We are moving from an industrial economy to
an information-based, services economy. Innovations that enhance access to
and use of information directly contribute to the national welfare.
In the work place as well as in educational settings, the skills that
people need most are information-processing skills and the resource people
need most is access to information. To serve these needs, computers must
have an open and capacious ability to communicate.
Local area networks allow users to communicate quickly and inexpensively
with computers attached to the network and to share information and
resources. They also allow people to use their computers to form, dissolve
and reform working groups in real time.
For this reason, Apple is an industry leader in computer communications,
with more than 70 percent of all Macintosh computers networked and more
than two million AppleTalk(tm) local area network (LAN) nodes installed
worldwide. Apple's range of networking and communications tools make the
Macintosh computers the easiest-to-integrate computers on the market today,
compatible with every major industry standard - Digital Equipment, IBM,
Open Systems Interconnection (OSI), and Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) environments.
Apple's emphasis on interconnectivity among personal computers is not
unique in the computer industry. The creation of personal computer
networks is one of the fastest growing phenomena in the United States'
corporate sector. It is estimate that, in 1990, U.S. companies connected
3.8 million personal computers in local area networks, an increase of 48
percent over 1989./4/ Internationally, worldwide revenues for PC local
area network products grew at a compound rate of 46.3 percent between 1985
and 1988./5/
LAN technologies and their ability to enhance productivity are, however,
limited today by the need for physical (wire) connections. As personal
computers become more portable -- now shrinking to notebook size -- users
have more compelling reasons to take their computers wherever they go,
increasing their creativity and their productivity. Without wireless
connectivity, users will be constrained in accessing the resources they
need.
II. DEVELOPMENTS IN PERSONAL COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, REQUIREMENTS FOR
COLLABORATIVE COMPUTING, AND NATIONAL INTEREST GOALS CREATE AN IMMEDIATE
AND URGENT NEED FOR DATA-PCS
A. Personal Computer Technology is Moving in the Direction of Smaller,
More Powerful Computers
Since the early days of computer rooms, computer development has moved
steadily towards placing the power of computer technology directly into the
hands of the user, wherever the user may be. As the technology now moves
from the desk-top to the briefcase, the communications capability must
become personal and portable.
The new, smaller personal computers are the fastest growing segment of the
personal computer market. Sales of laptops and notebook-sized computers
grew 58.6 percent in 1990, compared to growth of the total personal
computer market of just 5.3 percent./6/ Sales in 1991 are expected to
increase an additional 40 percent to approximately $3.9 billion./7/ Many
forecasters expect sales to continue to grow by 40 percent to 40 percent a
year and to account for at least one-third of U.S. personal computer sales
by 1993./8/ It also has been estimated that nearly 40 percent of worldwide
personal computer sales will be portable machines, as compared with only 14
percent now./9/
This growth in the sales of portable PC's has significant implications for
the future international role of the United States' computer industry.
United States manufacturers held a 61 percent share of world sales of
computer systems in 1989, but this share is down from 81 percent in 1983.
The Japanese share nearly tripled from 8 percent to 22 percent in the same
period./10/ The future of the U.S. personal computer industry may well be
determined by sales of portable PC's, a product category aggressively
targeted by Japanese makers. Although Japanese companies have only a 9
percent overall share of the U.S. personal computer market,/11/ they
produced an estimated 40 percent of the portable computers sold in the
United States in 1990./12/
If it is to compete successfully in the next wave of PC technology, the
U.S. computer industry must be allowed to develop its lead in wireless
networking capabilities, to allow PC users to communicate spontaneously and
in real time without regard to pre-wired network configurations.
B. Increased Productivity and Efficiency in the Work Place and the
Classroom Require a Capability for Spontaneous, Collaborative Computing
Today's information-driven society is rarely static and requires the
ability to start up quickly, relocate frequently, and respond to new needs.
Wireless networks can offer immediate startup and re-configuration. They
can, for example, provide communications
- from one computer user to another in a work group,
- among teachers or conference leaders with assembled scholars,
- between a user and his or her printer or file server, or
- from a scientist to a network "trail-head" that connects him or her to a
national data network.
The value of wireless computer technologies will be profoundly realized in
educational settings./13/ Despite millions of computers now used in
schools around the world, the true power of the computer as an aid to
learning has been only partially realized. By the time today's
five-year-olds complete high school, they will have to cope with thirty
times more information than exists today. Preparing children and adults
for the information age is a daunting challenge, but one that cen be met by
taking full advantage of information and telecommunications technology.
In today's budgetary environment, installing the cabling required for
students to use computers collaboratively is prohibitively expensive. Even
if funds could be found for hard wiring, it is excessively time-consuming
and constraining to re-arrange a wired network, once installed, as teachers
move students among reading, math, and writing groups. Data-PCS can make
it possible for schools not only to afford to employ networked computers,
but also to take advantage of "situation-driven" learning, that happens
spontaneously and results from interactions among students and teachers.
In the work place, as in the classroom, spontaneous interaction and
collaborative processes can increase one's productivity. As one observer
has expressed it recently:
We need to build tools, technologies and network environments that
encourage productive relationships, not just productive individuals...
Unfortunately, most networks are designed with the goal of exchanging mail
and messages rather than creating shared space where people can
collaborate./14/
C. The United States' National Interest Will Be Served by Development of
Data- PCS
In addition to the inherent public-interest benefits of Data-PCS, creation
of such a new radio service will also serve the national economic interest
of the United States in two ways: first, by contributing to the increased
education and productivity of our work force, and second, by helping
maintain the leading role of the U.S. computer industry. Both benefits are
well understood by the Commission. As Chairman Sikes recently stated:
Mobile services are a proven means of boosting productivity in a
services-based economy./15/
While Chairman Sikes was speaking of land mobile services in general,
mobility at any scale provides flexibility, adaptability, and creative
human interfaces that support innovation. Quoting former Secretary of
Commerce Baldridge, Chairman Sikes noted that:
Technology is America's competitive edge...and, it was our demonstrated
capacity to "push the technological envelope" and then deploy the results
in the form of new products which historically conferred a decisive
commercial advantage./16/
The personal computer industry still has a uniquely American flavor. PC's,
and the microchips that made them possible, are home-grown technologies.
American computer technology emerges from American developers to meet
American needs and tastes. The customer base in the United States is the
largest in the world, and the United States is a net exported of hardware
based upon or including computer technologies.
As noted above, this U.S. leadership is being challenged by Japan's
development of portable computer technology. The freedom to continue to
innovate both computer hardware and ways of using computers is fundamental
to maintaining the U.S.'s leading edge. Adding a wireless, local area
communications capability is a next requisite step in the evolution of
personal computers, and the U.S. industry must be in the forefront. To
achieve this, Data-PCS must be created and developed in the United States.
This alone will encourage the spread of Data-PCS in a U.S. configuration
and will directly support the ability of U.S. companies to compete in the
world market. The best way to establish a world standard is to get there
first.
In the discussion that follows, Apple demonstrates that Data-PCS cannot be
accommodated within presently available technologies or frequency bands or
within the services that have been proposed by PCN/PCS advocates. Apple
then describes the proposed technical and regulatory characteristics of a
new radio service to meet the unfilled and urgent need for Data-PCS.
III. NO EXISTING TECHNOLOGY OR RADIO SERVICE, AND NO PROPOSED PERSONAL
COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE MEETS PRESENT AND ANTICIPATED NEEDS FOR DATA-PCS
Given the pressing need for a wireless, local area communications
capability for personal computers, Apple and other computer companies have
analyzed the existing technologies and radio services to determine if they
can accommodate Data-PCS. In all cases, the answer has been no,
principally because no existing technology or service can assure
high-quality data communications in a spectrum-efficient manner.
Digital data communications require a very high quality transmission
environment. Information must be conveyed in such a way that it can be
received with virtually total accuracy, no matter what happens in the
transmission medium or in the communications equipment. Voice
communications generally succeed even with errors in the transmission path
of up to one percent (and error rate of 10-2), depending upon the nature
and distribution of those errors. Digital data may be handled many times
in a network; an error rate of 10-8 (one million times better than for
voice) is a common minimum requirement, and still greater integrity is
desired for some applications.
In addition to that requirement for accuracy, effective data networks must
provide for high-capacity data throughput, a capability for real-time
information-intensive collaborative computing, and the ability to create
spontaneous networks. These requirements cannot be met by existing
technologies or services. For example:
- Data modems used with the cellular telephone networks provide virtually
nationwide coverage, but they offer very low data rates at high costs per
unit of connection time. Some proposed digital cellular systems could
allow for increased data rates, but air-time charges would preclude
widespread usage./17/
- Several SMR-based mobile data networks provide metropolitan area coverage
for an air-time fee and with limited data transmission rates. These
networks are useful for many applications and can complement Data-PCS, but
cannot substitute for it.
- New personal communications networks offer or promise wide area -- even
worldwide -- wireless data communications. Virtually all of them, however,
would offer data communications only as a supplement to voice
communications. These proposed networks are characterized by slow data
rates and by airtime-based usage charges, both of which undercut these
networks' utility in meeting the present and growing needs of personal
computer users.
- Motorola recently announced that it is acquiring licenses to implement
its 18 GHz "WIN" in-building LAN. WIN-type systems will be complementary
to Data-PCS, but transmission in the 18 GHz band may not penetrate
partitions in many buildings and are, therefore, unsuitable for the full
functionality desired for Data-PCS as it has been defined. Moreover, the
requirement for frequency coordination and fixed hardware limits
flexibility.
- Infrared provides an often under-appreciated medium that satisfies many
in-room computer network scenarios. Infrared does not, however, provide
the mobile connectivity range desired for Data-PCS.
- Various radio frequency picocell models, some operating as high as the
oxygen absorption frequencies (60 GHz), have been proposed in Europe and
elsewhere./18/ When these technologies become practical, they can offer
efficient spatial reuse of frequencies but they cannot provide the coverage
range needed for Data-PCS. Therefore, like other technologies, such high
frequency systems can complement Data-PCS but cannot substitute for it.
Faced with the limitations of existing and proposed services, Apple and
other computer manufacturers began to experiment with and develop wireless
computer products for the ISM frequencies, particularly using spread
spectrum modulation techniques. Such use of the ISM frequencies had the
obvious appeal of availability, with a regulatory structure that put the
compliance burden on manufacturers and equipment suppliers and did not
require individual licensing of computer users. It also had the
considerable advantage of allowing consumer usage without the barrier of
air-time or network connection charges. Despite these advantages, as
discussed fully below, attaining adequate data communications services in
the ISM bands has proven to be unfeasible.
A. ISM Bands Do Not Provide a Suitable Environment for Data-PCS
In 1985 /19/, the Commission opened the industrial, scientific and medical
("ISM") bands /20/ for unlicensed operation of devices which comply with
the technical regulations of 15.247./21/ Section 15.247 permits spread
spectrum modulation, allowing a maximum transmitter power of one watt. In
1990, /22/ the Commission modified the Rules to permit wider bandwidths
when frequency hopping spread spectrum is employed. Apple supported that
modification in the expectation that using spread spectrum modulation
techniques in the ISM bands, pursuant to Part 15, would provide adequate
spectrum resources to support Data-PCS./23/ After extensive testing, Apple
has concluded that such operation in the ISM bands ultimately will be
unworkable, because there is a strong likelihood of unpredictable, and
essentially uncontrollable, interference in the ISM bands./24/ Data-PCS
can share frequencies with users who operate under the same defined,
predictable methods of channel access and traffic usage, but this orderly
usage does not exist in the ISM bands.
The present Rules permit a disparate group of users to access ISM
frequencies for a wide variety of communications, and even
non-communications, purposes. The very variety of uses, modulation schemes
and power levels creates in the ISM bands the antithesis of the homogeneous
and stable operating environment needed for data communications. In
particular, the Rules permit relatively high-powered transmitters which can
create uncontrolled interference to communications services sharing those
bands, and do not offer sufficient latitude for users to employ techniques
to deal with such interference./25/ The permitted levels of interference
thus preclude the possibility of mutual accommodation.
The presence of uncontrollable interference dominates the effort to achieve
adequate throughput rates of data transmission on the ISM bands. As
discussed above, digital data communications require a much higher quality
transmission environment than voice communications. Digital communications
networks can and do employ powerful techniques of anticipating and/or
correcting errors introduced by the communications medium. These
techniques themselves, however, increase the amount of information that
must be communicated, and thereby increase the channel occupancy or the
required bandwidth. In planning spectrum usage, it is necessary to strike
a judicious balance between providing a high quality transmission
environment and burdening the channel with the additional overhead required
to assure robust data transfer. The more that users employ countermeasures
against expected interference (e.g., higher power, high-performance
antennas, more profound error correcting codes, and especially repeating
transmissions in order to "get through"), the more probable it is that the
result will be a ratcheting upwards into spectrum gridlock. This
ratcheting is the antithesis of spectrum efficiency./26/
Accordingly, given present and anticipated operating conditions in the ISM
bands, it would be reckless for the computer industry to ignore these
trends and expect ISM frequencies to be a realistic medium for Data-PCS
operation through the decade./27/
B. Data-PCS Cannot Be Provided as Part of Proposed Voice PCS and Cannot
Share Frequencies with Voice PCS
Apple has also examined the possibility of Data-PCS being provided as part
of any number of voice personal communications services, or co-existing in
the same frequencies with future voice PCS systems such as have been
proposed by a wide variety of entities. We have concluded that it cannot.
In the various PCS proposals that have been submitted to the FCC, data
services would be provided along with voice, but would be subsidiary to
voice services. These predominantly voice systems cannot be used for
Data-PCS because they have been conceived and proposed in the context of
today's telephone modems, which have only recently achieved useful data
transmission rates in the range of 9,600 to 19,200 bps. This is far less
than the data transmission rates necessary to provide significant computer
data connectivity consistent with the needs of today's users and the
abilities of computers to acquire and manipulate data.
Apple next considered whether Data-PCS could share the same frequencies as
proposed for voice PCS, but has found that Data-PCS could not coexist with
voice PCS for reasons largely similar to those that preclude coexistence
with other users in the ISM bands. Although voice PCS frequency bands
would not present the same highly diverse mix of users as the ISM bands,
the transmission and duty-cycle characteristics of voice PCS users are
sufficiently different from, and indeed are technically antagonistic to,
those of Data-PCS users as to preclude the possibility of sharing
frequencies.
Data-PCS cannot necessarily survive the potential presence, on the same
frequencies, of one or dozens of voice PCS devices as described in current
PCN proposals. Those devices, some of which may in fact be within arm's
length of the computer, radiate enough RF power with continuous or
long-duty cycle transmissions to communicate reliably with a PCN microcell
base station that may be hundreds of meters away.
Some data and voice transmission schemes cannot coexist simply because data
transmission requires a higher signal-to-noise ratio than voice
transmission to achieve the requisite low error rates. Attaining that
higher signal-to-noise ratio for a wider-bandwidth signal necessary to
accommodate effective high speed data transmission and prevail over voice
signals requires more RF energy than may be feasible for portable,
battery-powered devices or desirable from the viewpoints of intrinsic
safety and of frequency reuse.
A multiple access (i.e., shared) data network can most efficiently access a
channel only when it needs to and, even then, only when it can sense that
the channel is available; real-time voice transmission, however, generally
requires one form or another of guaranteed channel time and bandwidth. Any
protocol or channel access scheme that dynamically provides the necessary
guarantees for real-time voice would, by definition, force any other
service into accepting what is left. As the need for high-capacity data
transmission increases, what is left over will not be enough.
IV. THE FCC SHOULD CREATE A NEW DATA-PCS RADIO SERVICE WITH 40 MHZ OF
BANDWIDTH
Data-PCS is a new technology that will provide a completely new service.
It is not an extension of or supplement to mobile or portable telephone
services. As a new, stand-alone technology, Data-PCS needs a suitable
operating environment that ensures robust, high speed, data communications
on frequencies reserved exclusively for its use.
The need for a user-driven, open-access high-capacity computer
communications technology to support collaborative computer and spontaneous
networking dictates the shape of Apple's proposal.
- A Data-PCS radio service must be open to any computer manufacturer's
products and any network access and usage scheme that complies with the
regulatory requirements discussed below.
- It must not impose licensing obligations or air-time charges upon users
of personal computers.
- It must have adequate bandwidth to support high-speed, highly-reliable
data communications between and among various types of PC's and peripherals
over a 50-meter range, primarily within a single building.
- A Data-PCS radio service must be regulated in a manner that assures that
the assigned frequencies will be used by compatible devices for like
purposes and that there will be fair access to the frequencies for such
devices and purposes.
- Flexibility must be built into the initial regulatory scheme to encourage
innovation in and the evolution of Data-PCS technologies and services.
Apple's proposal meets these objectives and is described in detail below.
A. The FCC Should Allocate 1850-1890 MHz for the Exclusive Use of
Data-PCS
Apple requests that the Commission create an exclusive allocation of 40 MHz
for Data-PCS in the 1850-1990 MHz portion of the spectrum, preferably
1850-1890 MHz.
1. Frequencies at 1850-1990 MHz offer optimum propagation for Data-PCS
Apple favors allocation of frequencies in the 1850-1990 MHz range primarily
because of the propagation characteristics of these frequencies. Computers
equipped for Data-PCS are intended to communicate within a radius of 50
meters on a single floor inside a building. This minimum coverage could
encompass groups of people who work together and who share computer and
peripheral resources, and who thus need to be networked together./28/ (At
the same time, we recognize that frequency reuse is of profound importance
in achieving efficient spectrum utilization.)
Radio propagation within this radius will depend upon many factors,
including building construction techniques, intervening walls and
partitions, and the frequency of the transmission. Attenuation, fading,
impulse response and multipath issues will affect the range and
reliability, particularly as the radio frequency increases.
Apple has performed tests in a variety of buildings, using frequency ranges
of 900, 1990, 2400 and 5800 MHz and employing several modulation schemes.
We have also examined published reports which generally confirm our
experiments. We believe that, present frequency allocations and
interference notwithstanding, the frequency domain of approximately
1600-2400 MHz provides a reasonable balance between effective penetration
of in-building partitions and frequency reuse indoors, at RF power levels
appropriate for small, portable computers equipped with miniature,
non-optimum antennas.
In addition to favoring frequencies in the 1850-1990 MHz range because of
their propagation characteristics, Apple believes that they are desirable
because regulatory authorities in other nations seem to be at the point of
selecting frequencies in this range for other personal communications
services -- a consideration that could enhance a worldwide overlay of
Data-PCS within other personal communications scenarios./29/
2. Forty MHz is the minimum amount of bandwidth that should be
allocated at present
While designation of any particular amount of bandwidth to be devoted to
Data-PCS may be arbitrary, Apple believes that 40 MHz will be necessary and
may adequately meet the present and foreseeable needs to be served by
Data-PCS./30/ Current generations of personal computers typically
communicate at speeds of several Mbps./31/ These rates are indicative of
the bandwidth a Data-PCS channel needs to provide. Indeed, more than a
single 10 MHz channel may be required in a particular location, since many
environments have densities of computer users (or needs for multiple
networks) whose network rate requirements can, in the aggregate, exceed the
capacity of one such channel at any given time./32/ An allocation of 40
MHz is sufficient to permit several Data-PCS networks operating at rates of
up to 10 Mbps, for example, to coexist in the same geographic area today,
as well as to motivate technological innovations that can lead to higher
data rates in the future.
There is a clear relationship between the ability of a computer to process
information and the communications bandwidth required to support the
computer's capabilities. Progress in video and data compression and
processing is currently enhancing wired networks. Similarly, wireless
networks must also keep pace to support such innovative applications as
multimedia combinations of text, images and sounds.
In any event, recognizing that the amount of bandwidth that Apple is
request could ultimately prove limiting, this Petition seeks to meet as
many needs as can be addressed practicably in the present regulatory
context. In this regard, while an immediate allocation of a contiguous 40
MHz would enhance the potential of developing technologies allowing
substantially higher data rates, if such an allocation is not immediately
available, Apple requests allocation of 40 MHz divided into at least 10 MHz
portions, for example, 1850-1860 MHz, 1910-1930 MHz, and 1980-1990 MHz./33/
Moreover, the allocation could be implemented over a period of eight years,
if at least 10 MHz are allocated at the outset, the remainder are
identified, and there is an assurance that the balance will be allocated in
due course. For example, the phased release of the 40 MHz could proceed as
follows: the first 10 MHz should be released for Data-PCS by the end of
1991 and cleared of interference sources no later than the end of 1992,
with further 10 MHz increments similarly released and cleared at two-year
intervals thereafter, over the balance of the decade.
Phased release of frequencies also could allow existing users of the
frequencies to re-tune their radios within the band, rather than shift to
other bands immediately, thereby reducing the costs of transition. Ad-hoc
industry agreements providing for compensation to existing users could
expedite the process.
Furthermore, the FCC's rules could evolve with the release of frequencies.
The regulations that can be formulated now are unlikely to reflect all the
possible technical changes that will take place during the decade. A
phased release of frequencies would give industry the opportunity to advise
the Commission on any appropriate changes in the rules.
B. The Regulatory Framework for Data-PCS Should Be Modeled on Part 15 and
Should Assure Spectrum Efficiency, Compatibility of Usage, and Non-
Discriminatory Access to Assigned Frequencies
Determining the regulatory requirements for Data-PCS is a complex
undertaking. At this juncture, Apple proposes only general objectives and
a regulatory framework for meeting them, and does not propose precise
specifications to be incorporated in FCC rules for Data-PCS. There should
be a thorough dialogue, within the industry and between the Commission and
industry, both within and without the rule-making process to refine the
details.
At this early stage in the development of Data-PCS, the FCC should set
broad standards to assure that the allocated frequencies actually will be
used for the purposes that justify allocating the frequencies to Data-PCS
in the first place. These standards should be flexible enough to encourage
innovation and technological evolution, but not so broad as to allow a
variegated mix of users with disparate and, possibly, incompatible
technical operating characteristics.
As a sine qua non, the FCC should model the Data-PCS regulatory scheme on
Part 15 of the Rules. Rather than licensing common carriers or other types
of service providers to create Data-PCS networks and provide service to
users, public interest goals best can be achieve in a Part 15-type
framework, with software-denominated "networks" and by relying on
manufacturers and the equipment authorization process to assure compliance
with regulatory requirements.
Similarly, following a Part 15 model, there should be no licensing
requirement for individual users. Use of the spectrum should be open and
"transparent" to the user, much as radio listeners, broadcast TV viewers,
and cordless telephone users freely avail themselves of those
spectrum-based services without air-time charges or network connection fees
imposed by service providers. If it is deemed necessary to impose a
license fee for spectrum usage, as discussed below, it can be imposed
pursuant to the FCC's fee Rules and collected and administered by the
equipment manufacturers.
Above and beyond the Part 15-type regulatory approach, Apple proposes that
the FCC adopt operating requirements, as well as equipment authorization
standards, that serve to assure:
- spectrum efficiency
- a technically compatible mix of users; and
- nondiscriminatory access to the frequencies.
1. Spectrum Efficiency is Best Assured by Adoption of Reasonable
Restrictions on the Output Power of Data-PCS Transmitters
Spectrum efficiency goals will be served by confining Data-PCS
transmissions to a maximum output power of one watt. One watt of RF power
into a compact, portable antenna at 1900 MHz is the minimum power that,
inside many buildings, supports robust through-the-wall data communications
throughout a 50-meter radius. This power level would enable micro-cellular
frequency reuse in larger premises, but would preclude Data-PCS from being
used primarily for point-to-point services that could be more appropriately
located in other radio services or by wired networks through gateways.
Since Data-PCS connectivity can in many environments be achieve with less
that one watt of RF power, Apple proposes that equipment capable of more
than ten milliwatts of power should be required to have provisions for
adaptive power control to utilize the lowest power level that meets network
connectivity requirements.
In suggesting power limits, Apple favors a simple expression of output
power, rather than regulation based upon power spectral density, which
might indirectly inhibit technical latitude in developing modulation
schemes for providing Data-PCS./34/
In addition, the rules should encourage the use of directionality, where
practical, to take full advantage of geographic discrimination to reduce
the potential for interference. Apple, therefore, suggests that for each 2
dBi of antenna gain, or portion thereof, in excess of 6 dBi, a 1 dBi
reduction (only) in maximum terminal power output should be required./35/
2. Compatibility of Users and Nondiscriminatory Access to Frequencies
Are Best Assured by Requiring that All Users Transmit Data in Packetized
Form
To assure that there will be a technically compatible mix of users and that
all users have nondiscriminatory access to the assigned spectrum, the FCC
should require that all users transmit data in packetized form./36/ Rather
than adopt detailed regulations in this respect, the Commission should rely
heavily on the cooperative efforts of the computer industry and of private
sector standards organizations. In particular, the Commission should be
guided by the IEEE 802.3 standard describing Carrier Sense Multiple Access
(CSMA), a means by which two or more stations share a common medium. At
the simplest level, a station listens on a channel it desires to use and
waits until the channel is available before initiating transmission. The
information to be transmitted is divided, if necessary, into short packets,
which may include both data and network-control symbols. The duration of
any such transmission packet, and thus of continuous channel occupancy, is
limited./37/
Packetizing of digital information is the fundamental basis for
AppleTalk(tm), Ethernet and virtually all other computer networks.
Packetization and channel access are generally independent of modulation
scheme and can be employed with spread spectrum as well as non-spread and
channelized operational models, and can be applied to CDMA, TDMA, FDMA and
combinations thereof. Because it supports powerful means for preventing or
correcting errors, packetization uses the spectrum very efficiently.
Accordingly, Apple proposes that the minimum specification needed to
control channel access and usage are:
- A required minimum period of sensing the channel for activity before
considering that the channel is available for transmitting. If activity is
sensed, transmission is deferred until the channel is free.
- A maximum permitted duration of continuous channel occupancy.
Except for these minimum requirements, the Commission should not dictate or
restrict the architecture of Data-PCS networks. In particular, it would
not be desirable to have regulations that would require a centralized
network management resource or a pre-existing superstructure, any more than
there should be regulations to prevent them./38/
a. Disclosure by Manufacturers
The Commission should, as part of the equipment authorization process,
require disclosure by the manufacturer of the channel usage and access
schemes employed by that equipment for Data-PCS. We believe that
modulation schemes, error correction provisions, channel access protocols
and provisions for fairness of access, interference rejection schemes,
receiver and transmitter emissions and reception masks, and other pertinent
characteristics that define channel access and occupancy should be fully
revealed. In this way, industry participants can work in a known
environment. Such disclosure can expedite de facto standardization of ways
to share the RF medium; inefficient schemes can be supplanted by better
ones; and responsible use of the spectrum will be encouraged.
The Commission should not authorized systems employing schemes specifically
intended to limit or exclude fair access by others.
b. Requirements for a universal identification
To provide further incentive and means for the computer industry to agree
on standards and protocols regarding equipment for and usage of Data-PCS
frequencies, the FCC also should require manufacturers to assign each
transmitter a universal identification ("ID") that is transmitted, in whole
or sufficient part, during each transmission sequence. Industry groups and
standards organizations will cooperate with the Commission in selecting the
proper form of this ID.
Moreover, if the Commission wishes, such a universal ID assignment scheme
could provide a means for manufacturers to collect a fee for spectrum usage
from PC users and remit such fees to the Government. Such fees have
proposed for other services and are highly controversial. There is,
however, substantial precedent for computer users to pay fees for
intellectual and other intangible properties, such as software and software
updates.
c. Non-disclosure of encryption schemes
The only exception from the disclosure obligation should be for encryption
schemes. Data transmitted over wireless media are inherently less secure
than data transmitted on wired systems. The Commission should encourage or
require manufacturers to provide means to protect data from interception
and misuse. In this case, manufacturers should have the right to keep such
encryption schemes proprietary.
C. The Commission Should Adopt Health and Safety Standards for all PCS
Equipment
Finally, every effort should be made to insure and promote the intrinsic
safety of products used by consumers in the work-place and in schools. The
Commission should include Data-PCS products, as well as other technologies
such as voice PCS, under the guidelines and requirements of GEN Docket No.
79-144./39/ Equipment authorization applications should indicate clearly
the means taken to insure that the RF radiation of a particular device,
used under the conditions reasonably expected to prevail, will not have a
significant environmental impact. For example, reference to ANSI
C95.1-1982 and showing of compliance might be required until the Commission
adopts another Protection Guide./40/
V. CONCLUSION AND REQUEST FOR EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION
More than seven years ago, another U.S. computer company /41/ filed
comments in an FCC proceeding /42/ in which the Commission proposed to
allocate frequencies in the 900 MHz band for a new low power personal
communications service. The comments pointed to a growing need for a
wireless communications capability for personal computers and stated that:
The rapidly-expanding personal computer market is expected to create new
requirements for communications between computers. This need has been met
to date by either connecting computers to common carrier wire lines, or
interconnecting adjacent units via a local area network. An evolution to
smaller and personal units, however, will bring pressures upon more mobile
and flexible communications techniques. A full solution to this
potentially very large future service requirement should involve radio
communications which use state-of-the-art computer communications
techniques, including packet radio, local area networking and packet
networking.
No allocation was made in the 900 MHz frequencies at that time and computer
companies have been unable to make other provisions for meeting this
"potentially very large service requirement." Apple and other companies
carefully examined use of the ISM frequencies, particularly in conjunction
with spread spectrum modulation techniques, to meet this service
requirement. As shown above, however, ISM frequencies do not offer a
viable environment for data communications even in the foreseeable future.
Even though the urgency of the need is causing some companies to continue
to develop products for the ISM bands, the risks of interference-plauged
operation in those bands are too great to make the substantial investments
that are necessary to develop Data-PCS to its full potential. Those
investments will be made, and the manifold benefits of Data-PCS will be
secured, only if the FCC allocates sufficient bandwidth for this purpose
and creates, by its regulations, the operating conditions that will enable
Data-PCS to flourish.
The need for expedited consideration of Apple's Petition is dictated by the
requirement to make the investments now for the long-term development of
personal computer products using Data-PCS. The need for Data-PCS was
urgent when it was expressed more than seven years ago. It has become
critical now, all the more so because of the imminent decisions that will
be made in the context of WARC-92. Accordingly, a decision with regard to
spectrum allocations for Data-PCS cannot await resolution of the complex
range of issues associated with development of a wide variety of voice PCS
technologies. The decision is overdue now.
Apple's chief executive officer, John Sculley, recently stated to an
educational group that:
The key strength of twenty-first century organizations will be not their
size or structure, but their ability to simultaneously unleash and
coordinate the creative contributions of many individuals./43/
Data-PCS is one of the tools that will enable individuals to realize this
vision. By taking the lead to create a Data-PCS, the FCC will be taking an
essential step to assure that organizations in the United States -- both
educational and commercial -- will be empowered to compete in the twenty
first century and that the United States computer industry will have the
versatility and strength to continue its contributions to our economy and
to our society.
Respectfully submitted, Apple Computer, Inc.
David S. Nagel Vice President Advanced Technology Group
Footnotes:
1 Harry Tennant, Technology 2001: The Future of Computing and
Communications, MIT Press, 1990.
2 Michael L. Dertouzos, "Building the Information Marketplace," MIT
Technology Review, January 1991, p.30.
3 October 1989 through September 1990, as reported in Apple's 1990 annual
report.
4 Business Week, "Taming the Wild Network," October 8, 1990, p.143.
5 Financial Times, "Glue for the Global Village," November 20, 1990,
Section IV, p.1.
6 Wall Street Journal, "PC Industry Pins Big Hopes on Laptops," October
29, 1990, Section B, p.1.
7 Id.
8 Wall Street Journal, December 24, 1990, p.12.
9 New York Times, "Japanese Portables Threaten American Lean in
Computers," November 24, 1990, p.1.
10 Id.
11 Id.
12 The present Japanese foothold in portable machines could also presage
the outcome of the U.S. and Japanese computer industries' battle for the
European computer market, which totalled $27.8 billion in overall sales in
1989. Europe's present estimated installed based of 19 million PC's is
expected to grow to 43 million by 1994. Financial Times, "Glue for the
Global Village," November 20, 1990, Section IV, p. V.
13 Indeed, education remains Apple's most important long-term strategic
market. More than 60 percent of the computers used in United States
primary and secondary schools are Apple computers. Apple computers are in
more than 75,000 primary and secondary schools in the United States along
and on more than 3,000 college and university campuses around the world.
14 Schrage, "The Collaborative Organization," New York Times, November 11,
1990, Section 3, p. 13
15 Remarks of Alfred C. Sikes, Chairman, Federal Communications
Commission, before the Washington Annenberg Conference on the 1992 World
Administration Radio Conference, November 5, 1990, Washington, DC.
16 Id.
17 However, it is far from clear that digital cellular schemes now being
described are intended to provide even the very limited utility of present
analog cellular systems for conveying data.
18 See EUCO-COST group 231, WG3 proposal, among others, which describes 14
Mbps data links within a room.
19 GEN DOCKET NO. 81-413, adopted May 9, 1985.
20 902-928 MHz, 2400-2483.5 MHz, and 5725-5850 MHz.
21 Initially encompassed in 15.126.
22 GEN DOCKET NO. 89-234, adopted June 14, 1990.
23 See Apple's Comments on GEN DOCKET NO. 89-354.
24 An additional drawback is that, by the very nature of Part 15, Data-PCS
would have only secondary status in the ISM bands and would have to cease
operations if harmful interference were to result.
25 One informed observer recently commented (on operation under 15.247)
that "external high power, narrow band licensed operations can disable
communications from up to 17 miles away." Stuart J. Lipoff, ADL, at WINLAB
Oct. 19, 1990.
26 The potential for unpredictable and uncontrollable interference from
and to Part 15 devices is not theoretical. Even though only a handful of
Part 15-based products have actually been introduced, operators of
authorized services in the ISM band have already expressed concern.
Teletrac, for example, has described "significant amounts of interference"
from sources including Part 15 devices. Sensormatic has received temporary
relief from interference from Part 15 devices for its operation in the
902-905 MHz range.
27 Reports that government radars in some locales occupy a portion of the
2400 MHz ISM band suggest further limits to the effectiveness of spread
spectrum systems using these frequencies.
28 When in-room, line-of-sight connectivity is the dominant usage, higher
frequencies such as the 18 or 60 GHz range and / or infrared may be
preferred and practical. For longer distances of interconnection, such as
across a campus, Data-PCS can bridge or gateway into other networks or
media.
29 This range overlaps the UK's PCN spectrum of 1710-1785 and 1805-1880
MHz.
30 Many experts, however, believe that a much larger portion of the
spectrum should be devoted to Data-PCS for wireless LANs. A subcommittee
of the IEEE, for example, estimates the need as falling in the range of 70
MHz to 140 MHz. See IEEE 802.11 Reply Comments on GEN DOCKET 90-314.
31 For example, 10 Mbps (IEEE 802.3/Ethernet), 4/16 Mbps (802.5/Token
Ring), etc.
32 Data-PCS will of course be appropriate for both high and relatively low
data rates (e.g., Apple's LocalTalk(tm). Apple's petition is directed at
providing usable radio spectrum for all wireless local area networks of
today and the near future.
33 Because of the low RF power levels of Data-PCS, these 10 MHz segments
could occupy the so-called "guard bands" requested in at least one PCS
proposal. See PCN America (Millicom) Petition, dated November 7, 1989, FCC
Docket RM-7175.
34 The lively dialogue between the Commission and industry on this subject
when revising 15.247 was concluded by adoption of power limit expressions
specific to different modulation schemes, including a power spectral
density limit for direct sequence and an absolute power limit for frequency
hopping spread spectrum. GEN DOCKET 89-354, June 14, 1990.
35 This provision will motivate directionality more than the one-for-one
decrease required in 15.247, as revised July 9, 1990. There is no need for
the Commission to require integrated antennas. In many applications,
Data-PCS transmit antennas can be incorporated into the computing device,
but use of a remote antenna (e.g., for remote peripherals) could enhance
flexibility of usage and reduce the RF power required.
36 For example, transmitters which do not have associated receivers to
determine channel usage, or which are capable of extended transmission
periods without re-contention for the channel, must not be allowed.
37 The IEEE 802.3 standard calls for the equivalent of a maximum
continuous time on channel of 1.235 milliseconds and a minimum time between
transmissions of 9.6 microseconds. Apple believes that industry can
develop and recommend similar specifications, as optimized to be applicable
to the RF medium, to the Commission.
38 Descriptions of many CDMA spread spectrum schemes imply the need for
power control of portable units through a feedback loop engaging a central
node. Requiring CDMA may be tantamount to defining a central-node-based
network architecture that could limit the effectiveness of Data-PCS. CDMA
and other schemes, however, must not be prohibited by regulatory
constraints.
39 Which amended Part 1 of its Rules implementing the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).
40 Apple supports the IEEE 802.11 committee's efforts to emphasize
intrinsic health and safety in addressing Medium Access Control (MAC) and
Physical Layer (PHY) specifications for wireless LAN's. See Doc IEEE
P802.11/90-20 - Proposal for PAR.
41 Wang Laboratories, Inc.
42 PR DOCKET No. 83-26.
43 Keynote speech to Educom '87.